Recap: 5 Defining Moments of The U.S Presidential Campaign

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While the U.S presidential elections are always held amid a lot of global fanfare, this year’s presidential race has particularly attracted an unprecedented amount of attention – mostly for all the wrong reasons.

With the voting having concluded and the announcement of the new U.S president elect only a few hours away, we bring to you the 5 moments that defined elections 2016.

1. Mexican are Rapists! Muslims should be banned!

When Donald Trump first announced that he would be running for the President’s office, most believed that the over-grown spoiled brat with an acute case of verbal diarrhea would not make it beyond the primaries. His hate inciting speeches against people of color and women only served to make the political pundits more skeptical about his chances. However, here we are a year down the lane and from the look of things, not only did Trump win the primaries, it seems he has also won his way to the Oval Office!

https://youtu.be/oLWaoMCUg0g

2. Bernie Sanders Wins and then Breaks Our Hearts

There was little reason to consider Sanders as a serious candidate when he first announced his presidential run in a low key event in April 2015. However, once huge crowds began showing up at his rallies, the political pundits were forced to take notice. His speeches promised an end to racial discrimination, a cut on military spending and an increase in the education budget across the board.

While Hillary won the primaries, Sanders clearly won more hearts. The faces of scores of disheartened Democratic voters at this year’s Democratic National Convention (DNC) and the consequent pledge of many to Democratic supporters to distance themselves from Clinton will remain a defining factor in this Presidential race and its outcome.

https://youtu.be/rtBVuye4fZQ

3. Americans Finally Have a Female Presidential Nominee

While thirds world countries might lack in terms of resources and good governance, they certainly have an edge over the world’s most powerful country in terms of putting their trust in women leaders. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Philippines are just a few of the developing countries who have been ruled by women at one point or the other. Britain and Germany are examples from the developed world.

Whether Clinton wins or not is an entirely different story; the fact that America finally has a female presidential nominee is in itself a huge milestone for the United States.

4. American Politics Falls from Grace

This year’s presidential race has been marred with hate speech targeting women, religious minorities, people of colour and political opponents. The fact that Donald Trump has access to the internet has not helped the cause.

American politics will take at least a couple of decades to redeem itself from the fall from grace that it has experienced during Elections 2016.

5. President Obama’s Reaction to the 2016 Presidential Race

A lot has been said about all that went wrong during the campaign season this year. Political commentators have had a very hard time wrapping their heads around hoards of statements and scandals that surfaced as the campaign inched forward. Some developments have been so mind boggling that commentators such as Trevor Noah, John Oliver and Stephen Colbert have frequently asked the same question from their audiences, “How the f**k did we get here?”

However, it is President Obama who summed up the global reaction to the U.S presidential race when, during this year’s DNC he said, “People outside the United States do not understand what is going on in this election!”